Out of the confines of the cage he was in while recovering from surgery, Phil has 16 feet in which to stretch his wings and begin the process of flying again. Within the next week or two, depending on how he does and when a bard owl occupying an adjacent 84-foot cage is ready to be released, Phil will move to the larger portion.

The veterinarians at Arbor View did physical therapy with Phil, moving his damaged wing to prevent atrophy and contracture, which impacts the webbing in his wing.

“Now he’s in an enclosure where he can do that on his own,” said Steve Lakatos, director of Humane Indiana Wildlife, located east of Valparaiso.

Phil is around 2½ years old. Being in the smaller cage gives him some privacy. He’s monitored by video camera and provided fresh water and fish daily, but otherwise left alone.

Given his injury, it will take time, patience and quiet for him to heal.

“He’s flapping some. He is getting from branch to branch. We’re still cautiously optimistic,” Lakatos said, adding Phil is getting some lift as he flaps.

Lakatos transferred Phil from the vet clinic to the wildlife rehab center in a large dog kennel. While Lakatos said Phil’s first day in rehab was stressful and he didn’t eat much, his appetite quickly returned and he eats up to a pound of fish a day.

Suzanne Tennant/Post-Tribune

Humane Indiana Wildlife director Steve Lakatos hopes Phil will be able to be returned to his home area near the Indiana Toll Road.

Humane Indiana Wildlife director Steve Lakatos hopes Phil will be able to be returned to his home area near the Indiana Toll Road. (Suzanne Tennant/Post-Tribune)

“The next step is on the bird. We can keep it warm and safe and well-fed,” Lakatos said.

Phil was taken to Arbor View after Brian Taylor, a Hobart police officer, found him with a broken wing at the 12.5-mile marker on the Indiana Toll Road near the Little Calumet River while he was working an interdiction assignment. His wife, Andie Taylor, is a veterinary assistant at Arbor View and he called her for help, and she instructed him to put the eagle in a blanket and bring him to the clinic.

Phil was likely searching for food when a vehicle hit him, said Nicole Harmon, an educator at the wildlife center.

Because the heavy, high-speed traffic on the toll road makes it unsafe to stop, Harmon said drivers can contact the Indiana Department of Natural Resources or Indiana State Police to let them know about an injured animal in the roadway.

There is a family of bald eagles near where Phil was found that produces two or three chicks a year, Harmon said. Ideally, that will be his next stop, though Lakatos doesn’t know how long that might take.

“He knows that area,” Lakatos said.

A couple of years ago, the wildlife center took in an eagle chick that fell from its nest in that area and pulled a ligament, rendering it unable to fly, Harmon said. That eagle, likely one of Phil’s siblings, is now an education ambassador at a wildlife rehab center in Delphi in Carroll County.

If Phil can’t fully regain the ability to fly and hunt, Harmon said, “he would be placed as an education ambassador elsewhere.”

Suzanne Tennant/Post-Tribune

Phil, the bald eagle, is starting to test his broken wing after healing from surgery to repair it.

Phil, the bald eagle, is starting to test his broken wing after healing from surgery to repair it. (Suzanne Tennant/Post-Tribune)